


every face i meet, every road i drive

by moonteez



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Diners, M/M, Not Beta Read, Running Away, Self-Indulgent, can be read as platonic or romantic, hyuck is 19, taeil is 21, this might not make sense im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:35:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23643181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonteez/pseuds/moonteez
Summary: taeil rolls over and drags his arm to pick up his phone. he squints his eyes at the blurry white numbers.2:47amthe anger doesn't come. the disappointment never settles.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Moon Taeil, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Moon Taeil
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	every face i meet, every road i drive

**Author's Note:**

> title from breaking free by night riots
> 
> i was bored and listening to a really nostalgic playlist and wanted to write this so
> 
> TW// at the very beginning there is a small description of being hungry/hunger pains so pls skip that little bit if it makes u uncomfy or just dont read whatever is fine!!! just be safe <3

taeil sits on the rumpled sheets of the hotel bed, watching the ceiling fan spin. he can feel his phone vibrate and he knows it's his mother.

he also knows underneath her wrinkled skin and pale hair that she doesn't care where he is right now.

and honestly, taeil doesn't either.

he doesn't know when he got here, when he put his suitcase down and charged his phone, when he payed for the room. he doesn't know how long he's been lying in this bed, let alone been at the hotel.

he can't bring himself to look at the clock. he doesn't want to feel the disappointment settle at the bottom of his stomach when he forces himself to pay attention to the fact that he can't sleep.

he'd rather pay attention to the hunger pains gnawing at the inside of his stomach, his body aching for food.

taeil rolls over and drags his arm to pick up his phone. he squints his eyes at the blurry white numbers.

_2:47am_

the anger doesn't come. the disappointment never settles.

taeil gets up and out of bed, slipping on his shoes. his only pair of shoes.

it's cold outside, colder than he thought, but he doesn't reach back in and get a jacket. he let's himself get used to the bite before trailing down the stairs and getting into his car.

it starts with ease, surprising him. he'd had tremendous trouble trying to start the thing only hours before, growing nervous that he'd have to spend his savings on something new.

taeil doesn't want something new.

the road is void of life as he drives, save for the radio show host babbling about the "top ten hits of this week."

he sees the sign first, looming over him at the entrance of the parking lot. the obnoxiously yellow outer walls of the 24 hour diner is next, screaming at him to _leave, leave, leave._ go back to your hotel room and ignore the calls from your mother. count the stains on the ceiling. hell, go _home._

with the thought that home isn't an option anymore taeil leaves his car, locking it twice before pushing himself to cross the parking lot and enter the thick, frosted glass doors of the diner.

"hello, welcome to..." taeil drowns the nasally voice out, the words bouncing off his head and echoing off of his skull. he mumbles a greeting and sits down, scanning over the menu.

"good morning, sir. i'll be your waiter today, my name is donghyuck. can i start you off with our specials?" a young boy asks, smiling a smile that's teetering so close to the edge of being ridiculously fake.

taeil decides it's genuine enough, smiling back. "that won't be necessary. i'll take a water and a number 7, please."

"of course, i'll be back with your water." donghyuck says, jotting the order down and leaving the table quickly. the calls out the order, diner slang filtering through one of taeil's ears and out the other.

he watches the young boy, who he decides is no older than nineteen, twenty at most, fix his paper hat before pouring a fresh water.

someone clears their throat and taeil's eyes glance at the only other customer in the diner. an older man sipping on a black coffee. normal enough.

"here you go, sir. anything else before your order gets here?" donghyuck asks, placing the hard plastic cup and a straw on the table. taeil looks down at them and back up at donghyuck.

"no, thank you."

the old man is out before taeil's meal arrives and when it does, he eats slowly.

donghyuck is the only other employee out front, the water spraying over the countless dishes he's washing.

"sir?" donghyuck looks up from his plate, meeting taeil's eyes. "is everything okay?"

"my name is taeil." he closes his eyes, facing his plate. "you can just call me taeil."

"okay, taeil." donghyuck says and taeil can hear the smile in his voice. "hyung?"

"probably."

taeil hears the water stop and suddenly there's movement in front of him.

donghyuck is sitting with him.

donghyuck with the freckles that taeil can't help but notice, donghyuck that has intrigued taeil with no reason in the past hour, donghyuck who is giving him a goofy smile.

donghyuck who is so very new.

taeil can't remember the last time he's had contact with a human, spoken to a human, _looked_ too closely at another human.

"hyung? would you like more water?" donghyuck asks, making a move to stand. taeil puts a hand up and shakes his head.

"no, thank you. i'd like my check now." taeil clears his throat.

"you're not from here, are you?" donghyuck asks.

taeil hesitates. "excuse me?"

"why are you here?" there's no bite to his tone, just genuine curiosity that taeil can't admit to being afraid of.

"i left my home." taeil says finally, breaking eye contact with the younger boy.

donghyuck can sense his nervousness, or at least that's what taeil assumes because suddenly the boy is stretching his arm out in a handshake.

"i'm lee donghyuck, i'm nineteen. i just graduated because i had to repeat the eleventh grade."

taeil doesn't know why he takes donghyuck's hand. "i'm moon taeil. i'm twenty-one and i left home god knows how long ago because i couldn't let anything bad happen."

donghyuck gestures for him to continue.

"i'd rather not stay here much longer, donghyuck, with all due respect."

"of course." donghyuck nods, dropping taeil's hand. "where are we going?"

that's how they end up at a gas station a few blocks away donghyuck sitting on the trunk of taeil's car, his paper hat crumpled in the backseat. taeil sits beside him and they're passing a coke bottle back and forth, taking turns taking small sips.

taeil doesn't know why he's here. he doesn't know why he doesn't just take donghyuck back to the diner and leave him there. why he doesn't skip town before something bad happens.

"that's why i had to repeat the grade, my parents were disappointed but hey, i still graduated." donghyuck says, resting his head in his hands.

taeil agrees. "i never graduated."

"why?"

"i left home back then, too." taeil shrugs. "i hate it there, but i think i hate it here more."

donghyuck laces his fingers with taeil's, giving his hand a squeeze. "that's one more thing we have in common."

the first time taeil checks the clock, it's 4:13am. he sighs audibly and donghyuck throws him a glance.

"something doesn't feel right about being here." taeil says.

"with me?"

taeil has to think about the question. he looks down at their laced fingers and ponders, with him?

"no, in this town." he finally says, squeezing donghyuck's hand.

the boy nods, squeezing back.

the next time taeil checks the clock, the white letters reading _6:02am_ drill holes into his head, engraving themselves in his memory.

"why do you stay here?" taeil glances at donghyuck, admiring the way the younger looked at the sky.

the sun was just barely peaking over the horizon. taeil saw it as a timer, a reminder that time was running out. to donghyuck it was life and art. a reminder that there's beautiful places outside of his own head, outside of this town.

"i don't have anywhere else to go." the latter answers honestly, his eyes flitting over taeil's features when he turns to face him.

they'd been together for nearly four hours. four hours of staring and talking and sitting on taeil's old, beatup car and half of that time they'd spent holding hands.

taeil felt reckless, he felt like not thinking. he felt like letting his body take over, but willingly. he wouldn't let his body drag him from town to town, he'd bounce.

"hyung?"

"donghyuck."

"can we go?"

"go where?"

"anywhere."

taeil thinks he would go anywhere with donghyuck.

**Author's Note:**

> twt: intakification


End file.
